The following information comes courtesy of mybeerbuzz.blogspot.com:
I’m excited to be he first to bring you the first bottle coming to the Sierra Nevada Trip In The Woods series. This previously draft-only series will now hit bottles with Barrel-Aged Lime Ale. This ale is aged in Tequila barrels, it will be packaged in 12.7oz bottles and the beer will hit 9.3%-AbV.
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This article was first posted on mybeerbuzz.com.
UPDATE: Looks like this will just be a NC + CA release.
There will be a few new bottles hitting shelves in Eastern Iowa soon. Go along with what our local breweries have been pushing out and some things already on the shelves that are tasting mighty fine, I’d say we are sitting pretty good in our Midwest Beer Heaven. With Big Grove making a new double IPA every 2 weeks (Death was excellent), Lion Bridge going oak-aged IPA and a new Citra IPA coming this weekend, and Another Road and 3rd Base doing a collab IPA, it isn’t going to be hard to support our local breweries and stopping in for a pint or two while we go shopping for a few six packs. Anyway, on with the list!
*Stone Points Unknown IPA – a collab beer along with Wicked Weed Brewing and 
Ecliptic, Points Unknown will be a double IPA barrel aged belgian style tripel aged on Tequilla barrels and will come in at 9%. Here’s more from Stone on this release:
In creating our latest collaboration beer, It wasn’t easy deciding how best to pool the resources of brewers from three spatially distant points within the brewing universe: Portland, Oregon brewing legend and Ecliptic Brewing founder John Danis, and Luke and Walt Dickinson, the hop-and-funk brewmaster duo behind Asheville, North Carolina’s Wicked Weed Brewing. It seemed no single beer could adequately convey all that they and Stone Brewmaster Mitch Steele bring to the brewhouse. So, this veritable triad of power opted to brew TWO beers: a traditional Belgian-style tripel and a West Coast imperial IPA. Doing so allowed them to work within the parameters of all styles while taking things in interesting directions, adding a touch of Southern Califomia style and petting into the spirit! The tripelwas transferred into barrels that originally housed red wine before finding a second life as vessels for aging tequila. Four months later,that beer was excavated, then blended at a one-fifth to four-fifths ratio with the freshly brewed double IPA to create the beer you now hold: a hind of the traditional and the new, presenting a variety of diverse flavors that coalesce into something more unique than any one beer our trio could have conceived. Its eventual flavors were a mystery to even the group of master brewers who created it, but now they await the palates of those thirsting to venture to points unknown within the rapidly expanding craft beer galaxy. In other words: You.
*Quarter Barrel Brewing, Cedar Rapids – very excited to see that Quarter Barrel will have 3 of their beers available at Benz Beerfest this Saturday in Cedar Rapids. If you will be in the area this weekend, make sure you stop and grab a ticket (if still available)!
*Deschutes Foray IPA – this belgian style IPA will be released this month coming in at 6.4% in 22 oz bombers. Here’s more from Deschutes:
Foray is all about the journey. Belgian yeast delivers hints of apple and pear which blend with the citrus hop aroma for a clean even finish. So no matter where you’re heading, this a trip worth taking.
Malt: Pilsner, Carapils
Hops: Nugget, Amarillo, Mosiac, CTZ, Galaxy
Other: Belgian Yeast Strain
Big Grove Brewery – A lot going on one of my local breweries. Bill and crew have been nailing it with their beers and their latest venture, 8 Horsemen of the Hopocalypse, will be sure to please hopheads all around! Death was terrific and I saw Bill’s schedule posted on Facebook, hope he doesn’t mind me sharing, but here’s what’s in store at Big Grove:
With most of Death missing, presumed drunk, it’s time to start ramping up to the next Horseman. War rides in 12 days.
We’ll cover your hop fetish for the interim period. IPA, Arms Race, Buster, and Red Headed Stranger online this week (I hope).
Batch 300 will show up soon too. I’m thinking of this as a tag line: “It ain’t sloppy bein’ hoppy.” I’ll have to see what Lion Bridge Brewing Companyhas to say about it…
*Lion Bridge Brewery – one new beer already tapped, Trudy, and it’s very good! And another coming this weekend! Here’s what’s happening at Lion Bridge:
Trudy (Oaked IPA, 6.0%) – Named in honor of our favorite dog who is omnipresent at our favorite independently owned beverage depot (Benz Beverage Depot). Releasing to coincide with the 11th year of the wildly successful Benz Beerfest. Slightly more body and caramel backbone than a standard IPA, this beer was heavily hopped with Wakatu and Topaz. The result was then aged in stainless steel tanks with light toast French Oak Spirals. This rustic, yet elegant brew has an aroma of candied orange and grapefruit zest with a slightly tannic mouthfeel backed by notes of vanilla and tropical fruit.
And what has me really excited is their brew Citra IPA, Yard Sale!
Remake of Disaster at Meux this morning because I didn’t get enough before. & Dry Hoppin our new Citra IPA,“Yard Sale”.
*Another Road Brewing and Third Base Brewing Collab IPA – still 
waiting word on when and where this beer will be available. Excited to see what Jim and Alex cooked up for us! Stay tuned for more!
Boulevard Brewing just released their updated 2015 release schedule with some new beers added to their already busy new beer release schedule. The new beers of note are:
CORE SEASONAL
Funky Pumpkin – Sept. and Oct. release
Snow and Tell – Nov. and Dec. release
SMOKESTACK SPECIALTY
Imperial Stout X – Tart Cherry – Sept.
Imperial Stout X – Coconut – Dec. release
Here’s the full schedule:
A planned weekend in Kansas City for a beer festival turned into experiencing the best bbq I’ve ever eaten in my life. A group of family/friends and I had planned a weekend centered around the Parkville Micro Beer Festival in Parkville, MO which is about a 15 minute drive to KC. Luckily, having friends in the area who love them some BBQ, they were able to get us reservations at a newer bbq place called Q39. http://www.q39kc.com/ Upon looking at the menu online I was pretty excited to get to visit this establishment.
Kansas City is known for barbecue and I was kind of surprised to see a new restaurant attract so many people when they have quite a few BBQ landmarks in the Kansas City area. Luckily our table was ready promptly at 6:15 and the beginning of a massive pig out by the Beer Baron was about to commence.
The appetizers alone were worth going for. The smoked chicken wings were terrific. Good smoke flavor with sticky/sweet bbq sauce. Very meaty, they do not mess around with the size of your wings. We also ordered the white bean pork belly cassoulet which was outstanding as well.
At a bbq joint it can be so hard to choose what you want to eat. I love 
ribs, I love pulled pork, and I love brisket and sometimes choosing can be difficult, but luckily Q39 had the President’s Platter. Pick 3 of 4 smoked meats and 2 sides for $20. A bargain. My wife and I split and went with the 3 meats mentioned above, along with some green apple coleslaw and potato salad. The brisket was the GREATEST brisket I’ve ever had, hands down. Fork tender, juices running, smoke and just barely drizzled with house made sauce. The ribs fell right off the bone and actually tasted just as good the next day reheated. Between bites of those two and shoveling forkfuls of pulled pork into my mouth I was actually able to find room for a cold beer. When in KC, Boulevard is King. Went with one of my favorites, Tank 7, to wash down this masterpiece meal.
If ever in the Kansas City area, this place is must stop, especially if you are seeking BBQ. You will be put into the most wonderful food coma you’ve ever been in. Stay tuned for the Parkville Micro Beer Festival review!
Madhouse Brewing Company out of Des Moines will start releasing sour beers coming this May according to their website. Here’s more courtesy of Madhouse’s webpage:
SOUR/BRETT BEER
Madhouse sour beers are uniquely American. We do not try to replicate European styles, but instead use the New World tradition of borrowing Old World techniques from countries including Belgian, Germany, and France to produce innovative new beers. Our sours are made with a unique house blend of yeast (including Brett) and lactic acid bacteria. COMING MAY 2015!!
Satori Saison- Tart and funky saison.
A.M. Haze- Dry hopped with Amarillo and Mosaic.
Sour Diesel- Dark sour ale.
Blue Dream- Blueberry sour ale.
*Left Hand Brewing will be the latest brewery to add a session IPA to their lineup when they release Introvert Session IPA. The following comes courtesy of beerstreetjournal.com:
An ale with hop aromas of tropical papaya and kiwi with woodsy pine, balanced by honey malt and a clean bitter finish.
Left Hand Introvert Session IPA will be available in 12oz bottles, and draft.
Style: IPA
Availability: 12oz Bottles, Draft.
Release: TBA4.9% ABV
*Boulevard Brewing has really been busy this year as they are set to release another new beer to their Smokestack Series offering. Tell Tale Tart will be hitting shelves this June and will be available in 12 oz 4 packs. Here’s more from the Boulevard website:
When we first shared our 2015 release calendar back in December, we indicated that we were planning to brew at least twelve new beers this year. What we didn’t share is that we had a couple of test beers in the development phase that we weren’t quite ready to discuss.
We’ve recently received label approval from the TTB for one of these projects and are very excited to share some preliminary details for a brand new beer, Tell-Tale Tart.
Joining our year-round lineup of Smokestack Series four packs, Tell Tale Tart is presented as “a slightly sour ale” that derives pleasant, refreshing lactic acidity from brewhouse souring, a process of lowering the pH during the brewing process. The brewhouse souring method results in a crisp, clean acidity that serves as a contrast to a soft, subtly sweet malt character contributed by our base pale malt and Munich malt.
Once Tell-Tale Tart has completed the bottle conditioning process, we’ll be able to share more specific sensory notes.
Tell-Tale Tart is slated for a June release and will ultimately be available year round in four packs of twelve ounce bottles. Stay tuned for more news!
Received the following email from Surly Brewing Company so if anyone is in Ames and has some free time; help out this great cause!
WHAT: Come Give A Damn at this city wide volunteer effort that brings the entire Ames community together to clean the city up for spring. We are looking for Surly Gives A Damn (SGAD) volunteers to tackle the trash as part of the ‘Stash The Trash’ event, http://www.vcstory.org. The event will take place in Reiman Gardens, Ames, IA. And, there’s FREE Surly beer afterwards for volunteers!WHERE: Reiman Gardens, 1407 University Blvd, Ames, IAWHEN: 8:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. Saturday, April 18thAbout SGAD: Surly Gives A Damn is the Public-spirited Side of Surly. Our mission is to “tap” Surly Nation’s goodwill and passion for giving back and supporting our community. We follow through with this mission with donations of Surly beer and swag to local businesses and charitable organizations in need, and with ongoing opportunities for our volunteers to participate in service projects throughout the year in Minnesota and Iowa. More info can be found at http://surlybrewing.com/surly-gives-a-damn/
Received the following email from Oakland Road Hy-Vee in Cedar Rapids:
We are coming up on an exciting time in craft beer, we are going to celebrate everything about craft beer with back to back weeks of recognizing everything that is great about craft beer. We are going to start off with the first annual Cedar Rapids Craft Beer Week. You will see lots of events going on right here in Cedar Rapids that week which will lead right into American Craft Beer Week which will focus on all American Craft Brewers. We will host a few events during these weeks and couple of which will be two fantastic beer dinners. If you are interested in either of these beer dinners, please email me back to reserve your spot today. These should fill up fast so please be kind and only reserve a spot if you are sure you can make it.
Cedar Rapids Craft Beer Week(May 2nd– May 9th)
American Craft Beer Week(May 11th-May 17th)
Lots of tidbits this week with beers coming out very soon or announcements of future releases. Let’s start with the new stuff that will be seeing on the shelves:
*New Belgium Salted Caramel Brownie- I just saw this release on beerstreetjournal.com and at first glance I was pretty excited. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Belgium Salted Chocolate but I’m hoping this one satisfies my taste buds. A collab brew with Ben and Jerry’s ice cream sounds excellent. This will be available in 22 oz bottles and comes in at 6.5%. More from the brewery:
When two B Corps come together, delicious ideas are created. Our mutual dedication to using business as a force for good means you get to enjoy this brown ale laden with the chocolatey, salted-caramel, vanilla goodness while helping Protect Our Winters combat climate change. Dig in!
*Bell’s Saturn – the latest from the planet series brings us the Bringer of Old Age, a barrel-aged barleywine that checks in a big 11.5%. The brewery says the shelf life is unlimited, so this might be one to snag a few of. We should be seeing this beer this month. Here’s more from the brewery:
The fifth release in the Bell’s Planets Series is strong, robust and complex. Saturn is a bourbon barrel aged barleywine loaded with notes of toffee, caramel, oak and vanilla that finishes with a warming touch. The first beer brewed for this series, Saturn has been aging in casks since July 2014. True to its name, this beer is well suited for vintage aging.
*Green Flash Cellar 3 Series – with the popularity of the Silva Stout release Green Flash not only has one more Silva Stout release this year but will also be release many more. Will we see these beers? Hard to say. I’m hoping so, but my guess is that they will be extremely limited. Here’s what Green Flash is up to courtesy of thefullpint.com:
The Cellar 3 lineup in 2015 will include the following outstanding rare ale releases:
Silva Stout (2 releases in 2015)
Green Flash Double Stout ages in oak bourbon barrels, and artfully emerges as Silva Stout. Thismidnight black ale features elegant notes of oak, vanilla, dark chocolate, coffee, roasted barley and ripe cherry. Round and delicately balanced in body, each sip envelops the palate with its impressively complex craft composition.
Flanders Drive
Originally released in 2013 during beer week, this highly coveted rare ale was the first sour produced by Green Flash. Flanders Drive is the result of intense Brewmaster contemplation. Built on a canvas of structured malts, the sourness develops during extended aging in wood barrels lending to the beer’s depth and complexity. Heady top notes of tart cherry and dark fruit mingle with rich, subtle malt in the background for a truly satisfying sour ale.
Plum, Natura Morta Series
The first release from Cellar 3’s Natura Morta Series of fruit
fermented beers, this extraordinary ale begins as a Belgian-style Saison fermented in foudres with Brettanomyces. It is then aged in red wine barrels with Italian plum puree. After six months, a pink hued ale emerges. Elegant and flavorful, it renders notes of tart plum, rosewater and almond, balanced by barrel-drawn tannins and a refined dry finish.
Le Freak Barrique
Our Belgian-Style Trippel and American Imperial IPA hybrid ale is inoculated with Brettanomyces to create Le Freak Barrique. Highly nuanced, the resinous hop characteristics are refined by barrel-drawn notes of vanilla and French oak tannins. Wild yeast imparts a barnyard funk with hints of apple orchard that linger in the finish.
Cherry, Natura Morta Series
The second release from the Natura Morta Series is a refined evolution of our Belgian-Style Saison is foudre-fermented with Brettanomyces, then aged in red wine barrels with dark sweet cherry puree. After six months, an effervescent crimson ale is released with flavors of ripe stone fruit and barrel-drawn tannins. Retaining hints of earthy wild yeast, Natura Morta Cherry finishes like a fine Beaujolais.
*Destihl Brewing Cerise Stout Imperiale – another beer that I’m quite sure its availability or even its release date is Cerise Stout Imperiale. The original beer release had it come in at 9.5% but according to mybeerbuzz.com this version will be 11%. More from the brewery:
Cherries and chocolate are made for each other, and in this case, it’s sour cherries and chocolate & roasted malts combining in this imperial stout made with Belgian yeast and aged in oak barrels. Black in color and full bodied with subtle aroma, flavor and tartness perceived from the addition of sour cherries and Belgian yeast.
*Boulevard Hibiscus Gose – a beer we saw a little glimpse of last year is making its return and I for one, am very excited. I thought Boulevard did a wonderful job with this beer. 4.2% and perfect for a warm spring day. More from the brewery:
Our version of an unusual, yet resurgent, beer style. It pays tribute to the pleasantly sour, slightly salty wheat beers that originated in Goslar and became popular in Leipzig, Germany around the late 1800’s. A great introductory sour beer, Hibiscus Gose receives coriander and sea salt during boiling, then we steep dried hibiscus flowers at the end to create a vibrant pink hue (really, though, it’s pink!). The result is a tangy, sweet and sour ale with a refreshing citrus character.
Matt Hanlin of Benz was kind enough to send the following information along in regards to Cedar Rapids Craft Beer Week starting May 2nd.
Cedar Rapids Craft Beer Week
The first annual Cedar Rapids Craft Beer Week will be held May 2nd-May 9th. Cedar Rapids Craft Beer Week brings together a group of local breweries, distributors, restaurants, bars, retail outlets, and beer fans all working together to promote and enjoy craft beer.
The week will kick off with a national event “Big Brew for National Homebrew Day”. In 1988, May 7 was announced before Congress as National Homebrew Day. The American Homebrewers Association (AHA) created AHA Big Brew as an annual event to celebrate National Homebrew Day around the world. AHA Big Brew is held each year on the first Saturday in May.
Parlor City Pub & Eatery will be rotating taps to feature different Craft Breweries all week – Boulevard, Deschutes, Founders, Goose Island, New Belgium, Rogue and Surly. Additional events with different retailers, bars, restaurants and venues to host Craft Beer inspired events and specials are being planned.
The week will culminate at the 11th Annual Benz Beerfest benefiting the American Heart Association. Over 50 breweries and distributors represented, pouring over 200 beers, Benz Beerfest has become the premier spring beer festival in Eastern Iowa.
Check the Cedar Rapids Craft Beer Week Facebook page for a list of events and plan on being part of this inaugural local event.
